No jail for dealer who giggled throughout child abuse images probe

Lewis Brown was spared jail despite failing to turn up for unpaid work

A DRUG DEALER who was caught with child abuse images stored on his computer has again been spared jail after failing to turn up to do unpaid work.

Lewis Brown, who giggled through his police interview about the vile images, was ordered to do a total of 300 hours of unpaid work for the two sets of offences.

And after his last breach, which he blamed on insomnia, a judge warned him 'you will know what will happen if you are foolish enough to breach the order again'.

However the 21-year-old again failed to turn up to do the work leading to the probation service starting breach proceedings against him.

But once he realised he was he realised he was at risk of being jailed he started to turn up and has now completed all 300 hours he was told to do.

Alex Daymond, defending, said he was still under supervision and if the suspended sentence was activated he would serve a very short period behind bars.

Judge Tim Mousley QC said: "It seems the threat of breach proceedings brought you to your senses and you began to comply again. I am not going to activate it.

"I have to add to the punishment which will be a curfew for two months from today from 8pm in the evening to 6am in the morning.

"If you breach that and you come back to the court and there are any further breaches of this order, notwithstanding the progress you have made, you are looking to go to prison."

Brown, of Upham Road, Old Walcot, was put on four month jail term, suspended for a year, in July 2012 after he admitted possessing cannabis with intent to supply.

During the drugs raid on his home on April 14, 2011, officers found search terms on his computer indicated what he had downloaded from the internet.

And in February last year he admitted making an indecent image of a child in 2010 and two counts of possessing extreme pornography in 2010 and 2011.

He was put on a six month suspended sentence, told to do 100 hours of unpaid work and register as a sex offender for five years.

Earlier this year the cafe worker admitted failing to comply with the terms of the order saying he was suffering from insomnia.

Although a judge told him to get medical evidence he said he couldn't stretch to the £40 his doctor asked for, but regardless Judge Douglas Field imposed a curfew.

He said "I am going to reserve any further breach to myself and you will know what will happen if you are foolish enough to breach the order again in the future."

Both sets of offences stem from a drug search at his home where police were startled to see the history on his computer showing he had searched for extreme pornography.

Claire Marlow, prosecuting, told an earlier hearing officers seized the machine and a memory stick, and on the storage device found two films had been saved by him.

One was an 11-and-a-half minute movie, at the more serious end of the scale of depravity, involving two young girl aged between eight and ten years old.

The other was a six minute 48 second clip of extreme pornography involving an adult woman and an animal.

She said a further 139 images of extreme pornography were found on the computer.

She said "Your Honour will see in interview the defendant made no comment, but his conduct in interview was somewhat peculiar.

"Interrupting questions before they could be asked to shout 'no comment' over them. Appearing to find it amusing."

Andrew Hobson, defending, said: "I make it perfectly clear from the outset that while Lewis Brown giggled during the police interview, he does not find these proceedings or the offence to which he pleaded guilty, remotely funny.”